2025 Cellular Mobile Internet Update: 5G Is Mainstream, X65 Modems Coming To Routers, 5G Advanced Evolves Towards 6G

In our last massive 5G industry update in late 2023, we noted that 5G was finally ready for primetime now that a new generation of more future-proof 5G modems had become available for cellular routers.

Now, in early 2025, 5G has evolved even more - to the point where 5G gear should be the default choice for most of our audience of mobile users living, traveling, and working in vans, boats, and RVs.

5G is now thoroughly mainstream.

But that doesn't mean that 5G is fully developed or fully deployed on the carriers just yet.

Unlike LTE, where the three major carriers have rough parity - there are still some substantial differences in 5G coverage and performance between AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Dish/Boost.

Additionally, modern 5G cellular devices and modems have fewer tradeoffs and caveats than earlier generation designs, and modem technology continues improving - often outpacing what the cellular networks can actually deliver.

So, if you're looking for a solidly future-proof mobile internet solution, 2025 is a great time to invest in 5G gear.

In this article, we'll cover the current state of 5G and cellular technology from a hardware and carrier perspective, and we will explain where things are headed in the future.

For more on the basics of what makes 5G compelling, see our guide:

5G Cellular Data Fundamentals for Mobile Internet

Join our Next MIRC LIVE: 2025 Cellular Mobile Internet Update - 5G Networks & Modems

Plan to join us live on Wednesday, March 19th at 7PM eastern when MIRC founder Chris Dunphy will be joined by Andrew McNabb to talk about the state of 5G and the evolution of cellular networks and modems in the United States. There will be a Q&A at the end to interact with the team. 

Click this link, and you can subscribe to our YouTube channel and click the 'bell' to be notified with a reminder. This is a free public event, part of our MIRC LIVE series. 

After the broadcast, this same video link will serve as an archive to view whenever you like. 

5G Modem Technology Update

Every cellular device contains a cellular modem that manages the wireless connection between the device and the cell tower, whether that "tower" is on land or in space.

And every year - new modems come to market that implement the latest 5G industry standards - pushing performance to new heights.

The carriers also play an important role in this evolution, as their cell towers must support newer standards for users with compatible hardware to fully take advantage of them.

We are still primarily in the "5G Phase 2" evolutionary stage of 5G, with the first "5G Advanced" modems and technologies coming to market this year.

General modem improvements over 2024 were mainly incremental, with the Qualcomm X62 cellular modem finally becoming the standard for 5G connectivity in most routers.

Chip-making giant Qualcomm remains the leader in 5G modem design, powering the vast majority of cellular devices on the market today.

This market dominance may change as 5G becomes more mainstream and other manufacturers compete more aggressively.

MediaTek continues in second place (in the USA), making modems that utilize the same industry standards as Qualcomm, but they are not as widely utilized.

Apple has also been investing in 5G modem technology for years - in part to end its dependence on Qualcomm. In February 2025, Apple launched the mainstream iPhone 16e with the C1 modem chip - Apple's first cellular modem. This modem drops support for mmWave 5G bands and is optimized more for power efficiency than peak speed. Future iPhone and iPad models will likely further transition away from Qualcomm to Apple's C1 or the expected C2 modem. Apple's modems will only ever be used in Apple devices.

Qualcomm's dominance in the broader market and simple product line are useful for understanding and comparing modem generations, capabilities, and standards. So we use them as a benchmark for the current state of cellular technology.

Qualcomm’s 5G Modem Lineup

Here is the lineup of modems that have been most popular in the mobile market - and which release of the cellular industry 3GPP standards they support:

5G "Phase One" (3GPP Release 15) Modems:

• Snapdragon X50 (Long Obsolete) - Announced in 2018, this first-generation 5G modem enabled manufacturers to bring out early devices showcasing raw 5G features and performance. However, the X50 did NOT support 4G/LTE, which required devices to embrace the expense and complexity of having separate 4G and 5G modems running in parallel. And the X50 lacked key 5G features like support for overlaying 4G and 5G via dynamic spectrum sharing and running in 5G "standalone" mode. As we repeatedly warned, any device with the X50 was obsolete from the start.
• Snapdragon X55 (Phasing Out) - We covered the launch of the Snapdragon X55 in early 2019, and recommended that people ignore the X50 and wait for this first "practical" 5G modem to arrive. Indeed, the X55 powered most flagship phones and other 5G devices launched in 2020 - including the iPhone 12, many first-generation 5G mobile hotspots, and nearly all cellular-integrated routers launched before 2023. The X55 modem supports 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, and 5G all on one chip and supports standalone mode 5G and dynamic spectrum sharing. However, it lacks a few key features important to the future evolution of 5G networks and support for important future 5G cellular bands.
• Snapdragon X60 (Smartphones Only) - The X60 modem powered most of the flagship 5G phones introduced in 2021, including the Samsung Galaxy S21 and the iPhone 13. The X60 introduces more advanced and flexible 5G carrier aggregation capabilities, enabling improved 5G coverage and speed compared to the X55. However, this chip is still lacking in some critical ways compared to the following generation, and it was never used in data-only devices like hotspots and routers. 

5G "Phase Two" (3GPP Release 16) Modems:

Release 16 is the first major evolution of 5G, enhancing network performance and efficiency and expanding 5G's capabilities beyond mobile broadband to more niche use cases. Improvements include Massive MIMO, better energy efficiency, and initial Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) studies. NTN means space-based networks, akin to cell towers in space. More on that later in this article.

• Snapdragon X62 / X65 (Currently Mainstream) - Announced in early 2021, the X65 powers most flagship 5G smartphones that came to market in 2022, including the Samsung Galaxy S22 and the iPhone 14. This modem generation also powered the first flagship 5G mobile hotspots from Netgear and Inseego and the latest router updates from Peplink, Insty Connect, GL.iNet, MoFi, and more (use our Phase 2 filter in our Cellular Data Devices Gear Center to see the current options). These modem chips were the first designed according to the 3GPP Release 16 specification (aka "5G Phase 2"). The X65 supports three-way 5G carrier aggregation and peak theoretical speeds of up to 10 Gbps, all while being more power-efficient. Qualcomm claims that the X65 can improve sub-6 GHz coverage by up to 40%. The X65 is also available in a lower-cost X62 version with lower peak performance potential and support for just 2x 5G carrier aggregation, but otherwise similar capabilities. (See below for our analysis of the X62 vs X65.)
• Snapdragon X70 - The X70 is Qualcomm's flagship modem in 2023, adding 4x 5G carrier aggregation and up to 60% improved power efficiency to allow for better battery life than its predecessors. The biggest connectivity gains come from using even more advanced AI processing hardware inside the modem to help devices stay connected to marginal 5G signals - theoretically improving both speed and coverage. Like previous Qualcomm modems, it debuted in flagship smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S23 and iPhone 15. Once again, this generation is smartphone-focused and will likely not feature prominently in routers or hotspots.

5G "Phase Two Part 1" (3GPP Release 17) Modems:

Release 17 of the cellular industry standards is mostly a set of iterative improvements from Release 16. However, it does include two important new features: 5G "RedCap," which cost-effectively bridges low-performance and high-performance 5G, and deeper support for non-terrestrial networks (NTN). 

• Snapdragon X35 (RedCap) - The X35 is the first modem to use the 5G RedCap standard. RedCap stands for "Reduced Capability" and is sometimes called "5G NR-Lite." RedCap is intended to support devices that need moderate data rates, lower power consumption, and reduced complexity compared to full 5G. RedCap modems are much less expensive than high-performance 5G modems. Expect the X35 and RedCap modems to gradually replace 4G/LTE on the market for low-cost, lower-performance, entry-level devices.
• Snapdragon X72 / X75 - The X75 was announced in early 2023 and used primarily for phones released in 2024. The Netgear M7 Pro mobile hotspot, released in 2024, was the first hotspot to feature the X75. The X75 (and companion lower-cost X72) supports the Release 17 standards but are also theoretically upgradeable via firmware updates to be compatible with the newer 3GPP Release 18 specification (aka "5G Advanced"). These modems have enhanced performance and push 5G carrier aggregation even further. The X75 can aggregate 5x sub-6GHz 5G carriers, while the X72 can aggregate three. 

5G Advanced (3GPP Release 18) Modems:

Beginning with Release 18, 5G enters the "5G Advanced" era.

5G Advanced builds on the foundations of previous specifications to make 5G faster, smarter, and more efficient. Think of it as a "supercharged 5G" that builds on the original but adds new features.

This is very similar to the progression with 4G/LTE evolving to the "LTE-Advanced" specifications a decade ago that took LTE performance to the next level.

• Snapdragon X80  - The X80 is Qualcomm's flagship modem in devices coming to market in 2025. It adds more carrier aggregation (10x for mmWave and 6x for Sub-6 GHz 5G), and includes a dedicated 2nd-generation 5G AI architecture that promises to enhance most aspects of the modem, including latency, data speeds, coverage, and power efficiency. Additionally, it allows smartphones to have up to six antennas for 4x6 MIMO. It also includes fully integrated non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite communications support. Like previous Qualcomm modems, it first shipped in a flagship smartphone (starting with the 2025 Samsung Galaxy S25) and will eventually be seen in other devices. If the previous pattern holds, the X80 will primarily be a smartphone modem.
• Snapdragon X82/X85 - Announced at the Mobile World Congress trade show in early March 2025, Qualcomm says this new modem will come to consumer devices in late 2025 (early 2026 is more likely), most certainly starting with flagship Android smartphones. Qualcomm emphasizes the new AI processor in this modem and states that peak speeds for the X85 are 12.5 Gbps download and 3.7 Gbps upload. The X82 will follow the established Qualcomm pattern of offering a cost-reduced version of the X85 with some reduced capabilities, but the full details on the X82 were not available at press time.

For 2025, we consider the X62 and X65 and other "Release 16" / "5G Phase 2" devices to be the current sweet spot for 5G data devices.

These modems are also, by far, the most prevalent options available in routers now.

This modem generation is the first that is feature-rich and future-proof enough to be capable performers for years, even as networks and standards evolve.

Also, always remember that every 5G device also has the most advanced LTE/4G modem available, so even if you often find yourself in places where 5G networks are not yet deployed, 5G hardware should deliver excellent 4G performance.

Here is the current 5G standards roadmap, courtesy of Qualcomm:

This graphic from Qualcomm illustrates the evolution from 5G to 5G Advanced to 6G via multiple releases of the 3GPP cellular standards. Note that the years on this chart reflect the periods the standards are under development - products implementing a given standard follow a year or two after a standard is finalized.

Older 5G Phase 1 Modems Are Falling Behind

As is often the case with new standards and technology, the first generation or two tends to become obsolete relatively quickly - and that is certainly the case with 5G.

Our audience of mobile users primarily uses mobile data on data-only devices like hotspots and routers, and the most common legacy modem is the X55. This modem was dominant in 5G cellular routers until X62 modem modules arrived in 2023.

The X55 was great for its time, but its significant technical limitations severely limit its ability to stay relevant as cellular networks continue to grow.

X55 Modem Limitations

The X55 comes with two major limitations that negatively impact users today and into the future:

• Carrier Aggregation Limitations
• Lack of support for key 5G cellular bands

The X55's first major weakness is its limited ability to combine multiple different 5G bands through carrier aggregation. Carrier aggregation is a key technology that improves speed by allowing the use of multiple bands (called "carriers") simultaneously.

Not only does this impact peak performance, but it can also significantly limit performance in fringe signal areas.

The second major weakness is that the X55 doesn't support some key cellular frequencies in use today. AT&T's C-band n77 spectrum is the most relevant, sometimes called "Andromeda." While the X55 does support some of band n77, it doesn't support the portion used by AT&T, which is a huge limitation for utilizing the X55 on AT&T's network.

The 5G Phase 2 and later modem generations, starting with the X62 / X65, address these limitations and support substantially more 5G bands overall.

If you are still using an X55 device and want to take advantage of the best performance on 5G, especially if you use AT&T, then 2025 is a good year to consider upgrading.

X65 5G Modems For Routers Finally Starting To Arrive

One frustrating aspect of cellular technology and the cellular industry is that cellular routers tend to be last in line when it comes to incorporating the latest modems.

While the newest flagship smartphones in early 2025 are starting to use the X80 modem and hotspots X75, cellular routers are only now starting to get the X65 modem. Which is three generations behind the X80. The X62, the little brother of the X65 with most of the same features but lower performance, has been the mainstay for cellular 5G routers for well over a year now.

In our last industry update in late 2023, we discussed some of the reasons why the X65 would take longer than the X62 to arrive in routers. Now, X65 routers are finally starting to come into the market, and we expect that most major router manufacturers will release X65 models in 2025.

At press time, there are only two major cellular router manufacturers offering the X65:

• MOFI - The "MOFI6500-5GXeLTE-FN990A40 4G/LTE/5G" is out in limited quantities on the MOFI website for $599. Here is our review of MOFI routers.
• Peplink - The HD4 MBX router comes with four (yes four) X65 modems and a hefty price of $11,999 (in case it's not clear, most in our audience don't need this level of enterprise gear).

We expect many other routers to follow this year with X65 models, with most using the Telit FN990A40 modem module.

Many in our audience of mobile users focus on Peplink products, so now that the high-end HD4 MBX is officially released, we expect Peplink to bring the X65 to its other higher-end router models later this year, following in the MBX’s footsteps.

The X65 Compared To X62 - Is Upgrading Worth it?

The X62 and X65 are siblings from the same modem generation - the X65 is the premium model, and the X62 is the budget version.

The X62 is designed to have lower peak performance and lower cost than the X65, but in most other respects, they are the same.

While the peak performance differences are non-trivial, real-world performance will depend on many more factors than the modem's peak theoretical capabilities.

Here's a quick comparison of the X62 vs X65:

5G Download Carrier Aggregation:

• X62 - 2x CA that can combine up to 120 MHz of spectrum in total
• X65 - 3x CA that can combine up to 300 MHz of spectrum in total

The X65 can aggregate three carriers, but even more importantly, it can aggregate a greater amount of bandwidth - 300 MHz vs. 120 MHz. This is what enables much higher peak theoretical speeds.

However, in order to take advantage of this, an X65 device needs to be connected to a tower that can support 3x carrier aggregation at that bandwidth.

Additionally, this level of performance also requires 5G Standalone (SA) mode, which, at this point, only T-Mobile has widely deployed.

AT&T and Verizon still heavily rely on 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) mode, which uses a 4G/LTE channel as a connection's anchor. We have more details on the differences between SA and NSA modes later in this article, but the peak performance difference between the X62 and X65 is much less when the connection uses 5G NSA mode.

Of course, as carriers build out their networks, 5G SA mode will become more common and the norm, and more bandwidth will be available. So the X65 will have more headroom to support these network upgrades than the X62.

The X62 and X65 have equivalent upload performance specs for 5G and LTE. For 5G NSA connections, uploads happen over the LTE anchor band. So, if uploads are the most critical to you, upgrading from an X62 to an X65 won't make any difference.

When Will the X72 & X75 Come To Routers?

With the X80 out for smartphones, when can we expect to see the X72/X75 generation come to routers? We already have, for example, a mobile hotspot (The Netgear M7 Pro) with an X75 modem that came out in 2024.

Based on past history - we don't expect this transition to be quick in the router market. 

While the modules used in routers for these modems exist right now, they are currently not FCC-approved. Approval will almost certainly happen this year, and then it becomes a question of module maker production capacity, price, and the ability of router manufacturers to integrate the new design into their routers and then get those routers FCC and carrier certified.

In general - we wouldn't be surprised to see the first FCC-approved X72/X75 routers come out in late 2025 or early 2026, probably beginning with the X72.

The X72/X75 provides substantial peak performance improvements over the X62/X65, such that some current routers with slower internal CPU's will bottleneck the connection. Manufacturers may need to upgrade the base router hardware to better match the performance capabilities of the X72/X75, which could further delay things.

Of course, to fully take advantage of the X72/X75 modems, carriers need to continue upgrading their networks with more 5G capacity. Any cellular modem is only as fast as what the cell tower and network can serve - and a lot of the advances of 5G Advanced modems like the X72/X75 will require upgraded networks and towers operating in 5G SA mode.

So, a lot remains to be seen. While we'd love to see the X72/X75 come to routers sooner rather than later, past history and the realities of the marketplace mean that this modem generation likely won't be widely available until sometime well into 2026.

5G Cellular Network Updates

The three major carriers continue to update and expand their 5G networks, particularly the mid-band frequencies, which balance range and performance.

Still, Verizon, and especially AT&T, continue to lag behind leader T-Mobile when it comes to 5G.

AT&T and Verizon are catching up, thanks to new deployments of mid-band n77 spectrum.

The Dish/Boost native 5G network has grown substantially, but the company is failing to attract customers.

Here's is a deeper dive into how each of the carriers is doing.

T-Mobile: Still the Undisputed Leader

T-Mobile maintains its lead in 5G and will do so through at least 2025.

While the other two major carriers are still rolling out dedicated 5G spectrum, T-Mobile is leveraging its early 5G deployments to support more advanced 5G technologies, such as the wide adoption of 5G Standalone Mode and more support for 5G carrier aggregation - two factors that can increase the performance and reliability of connections, especially with newer cellular modems.

T-Mobile advertises two flavors of 5G :

• Extended Range 5G - This is T-Mobile's low-band, long-range 5G, primarily consisting of band n71. T-Mobile has licenses to a massive chunk of this 600 MHz spectrum nationwide. The advantage of n71 is that low frequencies provide more range, and band n71 is currently the lowest frequency used for cellular in the US. The downside of n71 is that it is not particularly fast. This tradeoff comes from the physics of spectrum - lower frequencies have more range but lower capacity, all else being equal. T-Mobile claims this 5G network covers 330 million Americans.
• Ultra Capacity 5G - T-Mobile's "5G UC" network (which will show as "5G UC" on devices) utilizes T-Mobile's mid-band spectrum. The bulk of 5G UC utilizes band n41 spectrum acquired from the Sprint merger, along with bands n2 and n25. This mid-band spectrum is shorter-range than n71, but provides much higher speeds. And with 5G SA Mode and carrier aggregation, devices can combine low and mid-band frequencies to benefit from both with fewer downsides. T-Mobile claimed back in 2023 that it covered 300 million people with 5G UC, and that has not changed. So it seems that T-Mobile's 5G UC network expansions have focused more on increasing capacity rather than expanding the 5G UC map.

T-Mobile is also starting to support 5G "network slicing" for first responders. Network slicing is like creating dedicated lanes for different types of traffic. One lane might be reserved for emergency vehicles, while another is for everyday commuters. Each lane (or slice) is optimized for specific needs—like high speed, low delay, or massive connectivity. It's a more advanced way to allocate and prioritize network resources than was possible with LTE, and T-Mobile now offers this for first-responder customers. Network slicing will become more common in other areas in the future.

T-Mobile's robust 5G network has continued fueling its growth in the Home Internet market. T-Mobile now offers a mobile-friendly "home internet" product with unlimited data, albeit much more expensive than the fixed-location version. This has caused congestion issues in some areas, but overall, T-Mobile's 5G coverage and performance are robust.

Here is a comparison of the T-Mobile 5G coverage map from our previous industry update in late 2023 compared to February 2025 using our Coverage? app. As you can see, T-Mobile expanded both 5G Extended Range and 5G Ultra Capacity throughout the US, especially the midwest.

Verizon: Fast Mid-Band 5G Is Rapidly Expanding

Verizon remains in distant second behind T-Mobile when it comes to 5G, but it is rapidly expanding its mid-band 5G network using band n77, which will be the core of Verizon's 5G network for some time to come. As of early 2025, Verizon claims that 280 million Americans are now covered with mid-band 5G.

Verizon has two flavors of 5G :

• 5G Nationwide (5G NW) - This is Verizon's low-band, long-range 5G, but it is generally not impressive. It does not provide a true 5G experience compared to Verizon's robust LTE network. Unlike T-Mobile and even AT&T, Verizon didn’t have a surplus of low-band spectrum that it could dedicate to 5G, so it layers 5G on top of its LTE network using a technology called Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS). DSS allows 5G to share the same spectrum as LTE. However, the downside is that LTE and 5G users share the same spectrum, and the network switches back and forth to serve both types of users, impacting performance. 
• 5G Ultra Wideband (5G UW) - Verizon's initial 5G efforts focused on extremely short-range mmWave frequencies (only available in urban areas and venues like airports and stadiums), which it dubbed 5G UW. Now, however, the vast majority of 5G UW coverage is from the new mid-band n77 spectrum that is dedicated to 5G. Verizon began deploying its mid-band 5G n77 network in 2022, but due to regulatory and legal restrictions, Verizon couldn't turn on much of n77 until late 2023. Verizon continues to expand n77 and, over the last year, has been pushing coverage out to more rural areas and smaller towns.

Verizon continues to rely on 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) mode, although it has been testing and rolling out 5G Standalone (SA) mode in several cities. We expect that Verizon will increase 5G SA support over the coming year. However, a big problem for Verizon is the lack of dedicated 5G spectrum on low-band (5G NW) frequencies, so 5G SA will likely be limited to only n77, limiting its usefulness.

Here is a comparison of the Verizon 5G coverage map from our previous industry update in late 2023 compared to February 2025 using our Coverage? app. The majority of the increase in the 5G coverage map comes from new deployments of mid-band n77 spectrum.

 

AT&T: Finally Starting To Catch Up

AT&T is still in last place of the big three, but it is catching up and has improved substantially since our last update.

The big change is that AT&T is finally deploying fast mid-band spectrum on n77, which is dedicated to 5G. It also continues to have small slices of low-band spectrum dedicated to 5G using band n5, but these small slices don't significantly improve performance over AT&T's robust LTE network and can often be slower.

AT&T has three flavors of 5G (which are actually only two flavors):

• 5G Evolution (5Ge) - This is AT&T's deceptive marketing - 5Ge is not 5G at all.  5Ge just means you're connected to a tower that supports LTE-Advanced technology (ie. AT&T's evolution towards 5G). While LTE-Advanced is not 5G, but it can provide great performance! AT&T was forced to limit the use of 5Ge in marketing, but it will still appear on devices.
• 5G - This is AT&T's low-band "nationwide" coverage. AT&T does use some DSS like Verizon, but most of AT&T's low-band 5G is from dedicated, but small, slices of 850 MHz spectrum using band n5. The small slice of spectrum means that there isn't a lot of bandwidth; therefore, speeds are generally not any faster (and can often be slower) than an LTE connection.
• 5G+ - This is AT&T's mid-band and mmWave 5G, which is all dedicated to 5G use. Like the mmWave deployments on every other carrier, they are limited to dense urban areas and large venues and are irrelevant to most mobile users. So AT&T's new mid-band spectrum using n77 constitutes the bulk of AT&T's 5G+ coverage map. AT&T was the last carrier to begin deploying mid-band 5G spectrum, but it is now trying to expand as rapidly as possible. One important thing to emphasize with AT&T's n77 spectrum, discussed in more detail earlier in this article, is that AT&T's particular slice of n77 is not supported by most 5G Phase 1 modems like the X55.

AT&T claims to cover 310+ million Americans on the 5G low-band network and 270 million on the 5G+ network.

AT&T still relies on 5G non-standalone (NSA) for 5G, although 5G SA is offered to a few business customers. As the mid-band coverage map grows, AT&T may offer 5G SA mode more widely later in 2025.

Even though AT&T is last for 5G behind T-Mobile and Verizon, it still has a very good LTE network that offers great performance in many areas. Outside of areas where mid-band is deployed, turning off 5G on your device can still be beneficial to see if LTE performs better.

Here is a comparison of the AT&T 5G coverage map from our previous industry update in late 2023 compared to February 2025 using our Coverage? app. You can see that mid-band coverage has expanded significantly:

Dish/Boost Network: Still Struggling

We usually talk about the "big three" cellular networks, but Dish Network is actually an official fourth nationwide carrier, although it has comparatively little market share.

Dish is known primarily for providing satellite TV service, but it has also offered cellular service, and the company has long desired to break into the cellular market. Dish got a massive boost due to requirements set by the Department of Justice's approval of the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. With Sprint going away, the federal government wanted a new 4th carrier to ensure more competition. The result is that cellular spectrum and network assets were transferred to Dish as part of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, along with a roaming rights agreement, to give Dish enough resources to compete.

Unlike the big three carriers, Dish is building its network from scratch, which means it is a native 5G network with no support for LTE outside of roaming agreements with other networks. The network has grown significantly—it currently covers about 270 million Americans with a true 5G and innovative network unlike what the other carriers offer.

Dish has struggled not with its technology but with getting customers and staying afloat financially. In early 2024, EchoStar, which owns Dish Network and Boost Mobile, hinted at bankruptcy, which was ultimately avoided. However, the problem of not attracting enough customers and not generating enough revenue remains.

One problem is branding, which even we have struggled to track. Dish started out with the "Project Genesis" brand (which still exists), but also had Boost Mobile, Republic Wireless, and Ting. Now, the company seems to have settled on the Boost Mobile brand for consumers.

One advantage of Dish's growing network and having so few customers is great performance when on a native dish tower - congestion is almost never a problem. Dish also still has roaming agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile for other areas.

The major downside is that Dish currently only offers smartphone plans. The lack of data-only plan options limits the appeal to our mobile data user audience - although those who snagged their unlimited hotspot lines for $20/month when available, continue to enjoy the benefits. 

Here is the February 2025 map from our Coverage? App, which now includes Dish. Our app did not include Dish coverage back in 2023 for comparison.

 

mmWave Fading

When 5 G first came out, the raw speed potential offered by mmWave signals was all the rage, and AT&T and Verizon, in particular, heavily promoted the gigabit potential offered by mmWave 5G networks.

But the focus on mmWave seems to have substantially faded, at least for now.

Over the past year, mmWave 5G has become less important and less of a focus for all carriers and device makers. For example, Apple does not include mmWave support in the iPhone 16e model or recent cellular iPads, and Netgear dropped mmWave support in its latest M7 Pro mobile hotspot device.

The value of mmWave spectrum licenses has dropped, and some carriers, notably T-Mobile, have even surrendered licenses they paid for back to the FCC.

The fundamental physics of mmWave has some significant downsides - namely, it has a very short range and can easily be blocked by walls and windows. This means it's difficult to get a mmWave signal inside a building (or RV or boat!), and the short range means the carrier has to install many more cell towers to provide the same amount of coverage compared to sub-6GHz frequencies. 

The carriers have discovered that mmWave is too expensive to deploy and maintain except in areas where it is particularly well suited. mmWave is ideal for providing 5G service in open areas where many people congregate - like stadiums, city centers, airports, and shopping malls - and carriers are now only focusing their efforts there.

However, it's just too costly to install and maintain the number of mmWave base stations needed to service less crowded areas, much less the more rural areas many RVers and boaters spend time in.

We've long said that mmWave is not very relevant to our audience of mobile users who live, work, or travel in vans, boats, or RVs - and that will clearly not change anytime soon.

5G Standalone vs Non-Standalone

Earlier in this article, we mentioned 5G Standalone (5G SA) and 5G Non-Standalone (5G NSA).

So, what is the difference, and why is it important?

Put simply, these are two different ways to get a 5G connection - 5G SA will be the future and is "fully native" 5G, while 5G NSA is a transitional method that still relies on an underlying 4G/LTE network.

5G was specifically designed to work with and be compatible with LTE networks, and to make this transition more seamless, most 5G networks currently run in NSA mode. This requires an underlying connection to an existing LTE network, which provides the "anchor" for the connection. Then, 5G spectrum can be added on via carrier aggregation.

5G, in this case, acts more like a turbo-boost that kicks in, layering 5G onto LTE. The LTE network is still essential, with services like voice and often data uploads still utilizing LTE, not 5G.

By contrast, 5G SA mode is 100% 5G - no LTE anchor is needed at all. This allows a connection to take advantage of all the technology improvements that 5G offers - in particular, much-improved latency and higher peak performance. And once the networks have more spectrum dedicated to 5G, reliability will be significantly better too.

In August 2020, T-Mobile became the first carrier to enable standalone 5G and has been expanding this rollout ever since. In March 2023, T-Mobile crossed a new threshold, enabling four channels of aggregated mid-band spectrum on its 5G standalone (5G SA) network. Then, at the Mobile World Congress in early March 2025, T-Mobile announced that it would expand to 5x download aggregation and 2x upload aggregation in 2025.

AT&T and Verizon, by contrast, still rely primarily on 5G NSA connections, although that will likely start to change this coming year. Dish, as a native 5G-only network, only supports 5G SA, but may use 5G NSA when roaming onto another network.

Eventually, every carrier will fully support Standalone 5G technology, though it will take years before standalone 5G is everywhere on every carrier.

Satellite And Cellular Begin To Merge

One of the biggest developments since our last update is the integration of "non-terrestrial networks" (NTN) into cellular networks and devices. NTN is just a fancy technical term for space-based networks.

Put simply, this technology allows your cellular device (for now, only some smartphones) to connect to both cellular and satellite networks. The goal is to eliminate the "dead zones" that all terrestrial cellular networks have, and provide emergency communications when disasters bring down a local cell network.

Multiple competing systems and technologies exist, and this capability is still in its infancy. We plan to cover all the details in a future industry update on satellite connectivity, but here are the currently available and in-development options:

Starlink Direct-To-Cell

Starlink is best known for satellite broadband that connects to Starlink dishes, but newer Starlink satellites have a secondary payload that acts like a "cell tower in space."

These satellites use existing 1900 MHz cellular frequency bands (LTE Band 25 in the US) and 4G transmission standards, which are technically compatible with most existing cellular devices. Starlink is partnering with cellular providers worldwide to provide limited cellular service in dead zones for those providers.

In the US, Starlink is partnered with T-Mobile, and the service is rolling out in 2025. See our story for more details.

AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile has partnered with AT&T and Verizon to bring gap-filling satellite connectivity to their customers. However, AST SpaceMobile is still in the early stages of developing its system and won't offer consumer service for quite some time. Currently, the company is doing technical testing with five satellites in orbit. AST SpaceMobile will need at least 45 satellites and formal FCC approval before offering service to the general public. 

Apple

Apple was the first phone manufacturer to bring satellite connectivity to mainstream consumers, beginning with the iPhone 14. Apple devices use the Globalstar satellite network.

Beginning with iOS 18, the service provides full SMS, iMessage, and emergency services support via satellite. The primary downside is that the phone must be manually pointed at a satellite for a connection.

Google

Google is following Apple by providing emergency satellite messaging, starting with the Pixel 9 phone. The Samsung S25 phones released in early 2025 also supports this technology. In the coming year, many other Android phones will follow suit.

The service is provided by Skylo, which doesn't directly own a satellite network but uses satellites from Viasat, Ligado Networks, and TerreStar to enable basic text messaging features.

The Future of 5G Evolution To 6G

Cellular technology constantly evolves, and we are well past the early evolution of 5G - far enough that the formal work on developing standards for 6G will begin this year. However, developing a new technology standard takes a lot of time, and the cellular industry makes major generational leaps only about once every decade.

So, 6G should begin hitting the market roughly around 2030.

We are now at the point where 5G is mainstream, and the current generation of 5G modems in cellular devices will have a long lifetime, even as technology and networks continue to evolve.

The 5G to 6G Roadmap

5G will continue to evolve for years to come, and most of the future standards are in active development. These improvements are codified in distinct 3GPP standards that the entire cellular industy follows.

Here's a quick summary of past, present, and future standards:

• Release 15 (5G Phase One) - The initial foundation for 5G compatibility.
• Release 16 (5G Phase Two) - Completes the foundation for long-term 5G capability.
• Release 17 (5G Phase Two Part one) - Support for low-power and low-cost "RedCap" devices. Support for "non-terrestrial networks," enabling 5G integration with different types of satellite-connected links.
• Release 18 (5G Advanced) - Many performance improvements, including expanded carrier aggregation and advanced MIMO techniques, and integration of AI technologies.
• Release 19 (5G Advanced Phase Two) - Continued enhancements and improvements from Rel. 18, including enhanced massive MIMO, AI, more robust satellite integration, more use cases, and better power efficiency.
• Release 20 (5G Advanced Phase Three) - Work started in March 2024 and likely won't be finalized until 2027. This standard is also intended to be the first to begin laying the groundwork for 6G.
• Release 21 - While not set in stone, this will likely be the first true 6G standard, with development starting around 2026-2027 and finalization around 2030.

In terms of where we are now, Release 18 is finalized, and the first devices came to the market in early 2025. Here is Qualcomm's graphic roadmap:

6G - What to Expect?

The 6G cellular standard is being worked on, albeit in preliminary phases. Here are some of the highlighted goals that are being focused on:

• Support for many more frequency bands, including the upper mid-band range from 7-24 GHz and sub-terahertz frequencies (100-1000GHz) beyond mmWave.
• Massive speed improvements - potentially up to 1,000 Gbps (1 terabit per second) on the sub-terahertz frequencies. For consumer devices operating on lower frequencies, peak speeds will likely be far less than the theoretical potential - but still substantially faster than 5G speeds, which are expected to top out at around 20 Gbps.
• Additional native AI and Machine Learning integration for more intelligent network optimization and automation.
• Much greater latency and energy efficiency improvements.
• Seamless integration with satellite networks for true global coverage.

LTE - Not Dead Yet!

With 5G now mainstream and all the carriers having fast mid-band 5G coverage over most of the US population, you'd think that LTE would be starting to die off or be more aggressively switched over to 5G. But that's not happening - yet.

LTE devices will likely be supported well through the start of the 6G era, at least.

5G was designed to coexist with LTE, and many network users still use LTE-only devices. The major carriers, prepaid brands, and many third-party manufacturers are still selling LTE-only devices!

Just as a comparison, 3G networks were not fully shut down until almost five years after the first 5G devices came on the market. Since LTE and 5G were made to coexist, LTE could last even longer into the 6G era, which is still five years away.

However, over time, the carriers will retire the spectrum used for LTE and refarm it to 5G, as their customer base transitions devices from 4G to 5G. But that will be a long process that hasn't really started yet, so expect the LTE networks to be available for use with good capacity for the next few years.

Concluding Thoughts

5G is now a mature technology with well-developed network and device support and good and growing coverage and speeds. 

If you were waiting to jump onto 5G, then there is no reason not to consider it now, and it is becoming increasingly difficult, for example, to find smartphones that don't support 5G. 

Even data-only devices have mostly transitioned to 5G, except for entry-level devices and those with specific use cases for LTE. But we expect that most of those cheaper entry-level devices will be replaced with low-cost 5G "RedCap" devices, starting this year.

If you're looking specifically for a cellular-embedded 5G router, you might want to wait a little longer if you want a peak-performance X65-based router.

We expect to see several X65 models come to market this year, which will be more future-proof and provide better download performance.

If you have an older 5G device, 2025 is a good year to consider upgrading, but the value of doing so will depend on what networks you use and other factors.

Those with an X55-era device will especially want to consider upgrading if they use the AT&T or T-Mobile networks. There will be less of an advantage seen over the X55 on Verizon's network, at least for now.

Anything earlier than the X55, however, is long obsolete.

Bookmark